The American Beagler Forum

I'm interested in purchasing a tracking system w/collars & would greatly appreciate any info. I hope to save myself some headache , as well as some $ , by listening to the voice(s) of experience . I know that there are several systems on the market such as Tracker, Tri-Tronics, & Wildlife Materials which offer different models. I would be using it for my beagles of which I keep 2 packs(different lines). One pack I run on rabbits only & the other on deer, fox, & coyotes. Due to the fact that I do run deer, etc... w/some of my hounds I believe I would need a system w/good range. I have seen some of the bigger systems while in use by some other hunters & they seem to be a little much to handle. These were big units w/antenna & a seperate control box w/switches, knobs, buttons, & wires galore . Tracker offers a small hand-held unit that can be easily carried w/you into the field. They also offer a Supra Lite collar @ 4.5 ounces. It seems like the idea set-up but I don't know anyone who has any personal knowledge of this system. According to Tracker's website they have a 12 mile range in flatter country & 2-4 miles in mtns. Thanks in advance for any suggestions . Happy trails & God bless!

The Tracker is one of the best on the market I have the tracker Maxiam 1000/5 with the supra lite collars I like it alot better then the wild life one i had the supra lite collars come with a pointing s/w in them once you get use to using the tracker you can tell if the dog is standing still or moving and has far as the range on it have tracked my hounds up to 8 miles away with it here in New York and I will never leave home with out it hope this help you out...

I would go with Tracker .But buy wildlife collars .

Take a look at Quick Track, the extended range collars work real well in thick stuff and for the occasional cross country deer run. They are not real heavy and work fine on my deer beagles. The most important thing in my opinion on the tracking box (QuickTrack is easy to program and easy to use) is get one that can track any frequency and any brand collar. You may find some used collars for a reasonable price. Also some brands will only work with their collars and the company has to program the box and they are limited on the amount of collars it can hold. Better to spend a little more up front (650-800) then to end up buying a new box if you expand. One last thing check with the other hunters in your area especially the ones you hunt with, and see what frequencies they use so you are not looking for your dog and get theirs, happened to me last year and lost my best hound to a car and picked up theirs just as they were pulling up 5 miles from where mine was.
Fred

Tracker is the best! Without Tracker I almost lost a dog stuck in a tree. Tracker put us right on line & on the money.

I have a TRACKER and a Johnson reciever and much prefer the TRACKER. Main reason being the portability. As far as collars I went with Johnson because they are cheaper to buy and maintain.So far they work fine. I really like to be able to locate the hounds from where I'm at and not from the truck witch is where your reciever is going to be if it is not the size of the Tracker.

ive used tracking collars since before most of you heard of them, got first outfit in 79 or 80 and cant remember the brand , bought it from del cameromn in montanna , ive used johnson, wildlife, quick track ,FL electronics. i am quite hard on eguipment and i cant say that i prefer one brand over another. ive managed to destroy more recievers than anybody i know. it was always my fault. they dont work good underwater. and if you get strap tangled in snowmobile clutch they dont hold up well. and a lot of stuff ive used i bought used , ive never used the new tracker. but they are very portable . ill go on a limb and say the best reciever ive used is wildlife 1000 it was also the most expensive unit i used but range and sensitivity is great. it also is built into a rugged case with nothing delicate exposed and thats a plus if your hard on equipment like me. i like johnson collars. pete

how muce is the tracker, is it better than the wildlife materials trx-48? can it take a beating

oops how much......

Heres a website also to look at http://www.marshallradio.com, they have a good
site.

i saw an add for tracker lately and being brain dead i cant remmber where. im going to say 700 with one collar and a unit that takes more collars was close to 1000. i have CRS cant remember squat. i used a tracker just quickly once. it sure is portable. . if you want to go cheap you can use a scanner. no gain control is the drawback. it works pretty good. get somebody that knows this stuff to guide you cause you need a scanner you can tune fine enough. alinco dx10 is what i use but theres others. advantage is they work with any collar but you need the right antenna . they are a pain to find a layed up dog or a lost collar. the range is good. close up is where they arent good. if your dogs barking you will find him pretty good with a scanner. way better than nothing. can find them used . they arent real rugged either. pete